Ferrocarril de Langreo or FC de Langreo (FCL) was a Spanish

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

company which operated a line, in the

Autonomous Community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, in northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was the third train line constructed in Spain and was built during the 1850s.

History

The private railway focused on moving coal and iron ore from the mines of Laviana and

Langreo Langreo () or Llangréu () ( Asturian) is a municipality and town in northern Spain, in Asturias. It is the 4th largest town of Asturias with 43,000 inhabitants. Langreo is located in the centre of Asturias, approximately south-east of Oviedo. I ...

and the factory of

La Felguera La Felguera is a parish of Langreo, and the most important district in the municipality of Langreo ( Principality of Asturias) in northern Spain, with 21,000 inhabitants. It is located 18 minutes by car to Oviedo, the capital of Asturias. La Fel ...

to Gijon. It was the only non-urban Spanish railway built to near-

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

, which often led it to look for second-hand rolling stock, mainly from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. This included the purchase of: *Five

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

steam locomotives in 1959 from the

Alaska Railroad The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad that operates freight and passenger trains in the state of Alaska. The railroad's mainline runs between Seward, Alaska, Seward on the southern coast and Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, near the center of ...

ARR 401 402 404 405 406 which kept their former numbers *Talgo passenger coach sets built for the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

in 1964, the rolling stock of the John Quincy Adams (train). *Four

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

RS-3 diesel electric units in 1964, from the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. A fifth unit, numbered 1604, was purchased in 1971 from the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

, a piece of surplus Great Northern Railway stock from the 1970 merger that formed the Burlington Northern.Ferrocarril de Langreo en Asturias
/ref> In 1973, the FC de Langreo was absorbed by

FEVE Renfe Cercanías AM, formerly known as Renfe Feve, is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spain's of metre-gauge railway. This division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named F ...

, which rebuilt the Gijon-Laviana line to

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

in 1983.

References

External links

Steam locomotives of the FC de Lagreo

Railway companies of Spain Transport in Asturias Metre-gauge railways in Spain Langreo {{Spain-transport-stub

History

See also

References

External links